


Cove Golems

by WizardlyMagick



Category: Brave (2012), Disney - All Media Types, How to Train Your Dragon (Movies), Rise of the Guardians (2012), Tangled (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bar/Pub, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bot Fighting, F/M, Mystery, Rise of the Brave Tangled Dragons, RotBTD, San Fransokyo (Big Hero 6), This is a giant crossover, robot battle, there's a lot more characters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-08
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-12 05:22:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 17,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28630221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WizardlyMagick/pseuds/WizardlyMagick
Summary: The Cove is a hidden bot fighting ring run by 4 elite fighters. Hiccup Haddock uses his Nightfury model, a dragon based bot with electrifying and quick attacks. Merida Dunbroch would be suspected to use a brawler bot, but she utilizes quick direct attacks in the shape of her Wisp model. Rapunzel Corona uses Pascal, her detailed and self made Chameleon model. Jack Frost uses a Rabbit model, but his attacks seem to freeze his opponents. Then, bots start to go missing, and their fighters wind up injured on the streets. When the Cove Golems themselves become targets, the fight has gotten all too real.
Relationships: Elsa/Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider, Eret/Astrid Hofferson, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III/Merida (Disney), Jack Frost (Guardians of Childhood)/Rapunzel (Disney), Minor or Background Relationship(s), Violet Parr/Wilbur Robinson, hints of, mavis/onceler
Kudos: 12





	1. The Beginning

Cove Golems 

RotBTD Botfighting Au 

Chapter One

“Alright everyone!” The blonde yelled, gesturing wildly to the gathered crowd. “Two bots go in! ONLY ONE LEAVES!” 

The crowd hollered loudly, some stomping and cheering as the ringleader blonde pulled the flag out of the ring. The two robots inside the chalk circle lunged at each other, the larger one swinging a small circular saw blade as it attacked. 

Even though he’d seen at least a hundred botfights, and seen his brother win most of them, Tadashi couldn’t help but wince when the saw cut Megabot in half. The crowd around him booed or cheered, depending on whether they were rooting for, Philip - the bar owner and head of this particular bot fight zone - or the kid sitting across from him. 

The boy - Hiro Hamada, Tadashi’s younger brother, only shrugged and extended his remote control into its expanded form, then proceeded to shred the opposing bot. 

The fight felt unnecessarily short after Hiro used Megabot’s full capabilities. The easiest way to stop a fight was usually one of two ways. One: If the winner was merciful, they could pull the power source and effectively halt the battle. Or two: take its head off. 

Tadashi was fully aware that Hiro was showing off now. The fifteen year old gazed on, eyes glazed over boredly as he pulled Philip’s bot limb from limb, then sent the head flying out into the crowd. Three little old ladies running the bar ducked and shrieked as the pieces hit the walls behind them. Tadashi rolled his eyes. Hiro was really turning into a huge showboat. 

“Woah…” Philip muttered, staring at the wreckage of his bot. He nodded a bit then looked at Hiro. “Good job kid,” 

Hiro smirked and gathered up his bot, carefully placing it into his backpack. He’d just finished a fifteen fight streak, taking each opponent down using carefully crafted moves and flair. Hiro liked flair. It made people remember him. 

Standing up and stretching, Hiro held out his hand for the money he’d just won. The blonde - Aurora, he thought - handed it over. She turned to walk away when a large man ran into her at full speed. The girl yelped and tripped, falling over and dropping the money platter. It rattled on the floor, but was drowned out by the mans yelling. 

“That kid's cheating!” He yelled, pointing at Hiro and sending the money flying into the air. “He’s deceiving us all!” 

Tadashi groaned loudly, then lunged forwards to grab his brother. A fight had started to break out among the patrons, and the dingy back room was suddenly alight with crazed movement. 

Hiro was ducking under arms and crawling between legs, gathering up the money and stuffing his pockets. Tadashi (who was much taller) did his best to follow him, but the sea of bodies made it hard to move. 

“GET THE KID!” The man yelled, just as Hiro stood up. The botfighters lunged towards him, but Hiro dove out of the way, smashing into the barstools. The mob followed, everyone punching and kicking at whoever shoved past. 

Tadashi groaned as he was punched across the face. He pushed his attacker away, and the drunk girl happily moved onto her next victim. He tried to move towards Hiro again, but his little brother had disappeared. The teen began to get worried. Hiro’s bot fighting habit usually led to trouble, and Tadashi remembered the crowded jail cell all too well. 

The fighting was starting to get out of hand. The yelling got louder and tables were tipped over. Some people even brandished broken chair pieces. If it got any worse, someone in the main bar would hear and call the police, and that would lead to another jail trip for the illegal bot fighting. 

“HEY!” Aurora screamed, climbing onto the bar. She glared down at the mob, the pink and blue streaks in her blonde hair sticking out awkwardly from when she’d been shoved. “THIS IS MY BAR! YOU CAN BE QUIET OR YOU CAN LEAVE!”  
  


The fighting died down almost immediately. Philip and Aurora’s bar might be small, and the botfights were contained to a dingy back room, but they were nice people, didn’t charge much and the police rarely got called. The crowd dispersed under Aurora’s angry glare, and many either left or headed back into the bar for drinks. 

Hiro made a move to go, but was caught by the elbow. He turned back, only to see Philip looking down at him. The man had been a good fight, and a gracious loser, but his expression now was nonreadable. 

Aurora slammed the door shut and turned to her husband, who sat both Tadashi and Hiro at one of the tables. The girl walked over and looked at the two boys, eyeing them up and down. 

“Look man,” Hiro tried, standing up. “I won fair and square, so my brother and I are just gonna leave -” 

“Don’t give me any of that shit.” Aurora snapped, pushing the fifteen year old back into his chair. “You came into my bar and hustled my customers. You started a fight **_and_ **you have the audacity to act like this? I should have let them beat you up!” 

Tadashi paled. The girl hadn’t seemed so threatening earlier. Now, she had a different air around her. 

“What my wife is trying to say is that you’re scamming people,” Philip said, stepping in. 

Hiro rolled his eyes. “That’s the point,” 

“We could always turn you in,” Aurora snipped. Hiro’s eyes widened a little bit. “But we won’t. _If_ you give us half the pot for the repairs you caused,” 

Hiro looked like he wanted to argue, but Tadashi stepped in and quickly agreed. Hiro griped about it, but handed over some of the rolled up bills. He then stalked over to his backpack and busied himself with his bot. 

Philip stuck a hand out towards Tadashi. 

“Hey man, sorry about threatening you,” 

“It’s fine,” Tadashi replied. “Better than jail. Besides, Hiro’s getting too cocky. Sometimes I want to knock some sense into him myself,” 

Philip laughed. 

“If you want him to learn some humility and put a stop to the hustling, I think I know the perfect place,” 

Tadashi hated bot fighting. Betting on it was illegal, a lot of modifications were dangerous and outlawed by official competitions, and most of the time, he was crammed into a backwater alley while his baby brother conned gangsters for fun. 

So he was definitely interested in finding someone who could kick his brothers ass into quitting his act. 

Tadashi nodded. Philip smiled. 

“It’s called The Cove,” The man whispered. “Outside town, but the place is huge and the fighters there are _legendary_.” 

“Really?” 

“Aurora fought there for a little bit, back before we got the bar.” Philip explained. “Place is run by this group - the Cove Golems,” 

“Sounds like a gang,” 

“Nah, more like a club. They’re all pretty nice over there.” 

“How do we get there?” Tadashi asked, suddenly very interested in his brother's illegal hobby. 

“They keep the location pretty locked down,” Philip explained. “But we know a guy, and I can get him to take you to their next MASH Night,” 

“Okay,” Tadashi said. “Sounds good.” 

He gave Philip his phone number, apologized to Aurora again, and bought a pretzel to make up for the mess. The blonde was quieter when she was calm, and she happily handed over the snack. Tadashi then dragged Hiro outside and drove them home. 

“That’s bullshit, what they did,” Hiro muttered, kicking the curb. 

“Nah, you destroyed their ring,” Tadashi countered. “Plus, you could have really hurt their business,” 

“Yeah right,” Hiro groaned. “I’m going to bed.” 

Tadashi watched his brother move up the stairs and groaned again. He didn’t know what to do about his brother. Hiro had always been smart, but he didn’t like to talk to people he deemed ‘lesser’. And because of the boys extraordinary intelligence, he decided a lot of people weren’t worth his time. 

He’d gotten a lot worse when he entered high school. Due to his IQ, Hiro was in college level classes, and had graduated early. Now, he didn’t have anything to do but tinker with his bot and scam unsuspecting fighters. He didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life, but he also refused to look at options, and even though Tadashi was sure his brother would adore SFIT’s tech lab, the younger Hamada kept refusing to visit. 

Hopefully somebody at the Cove could teach him a lesson and fix all of this. 

* * *


	2. The Cove

Chapter Two:

Two weeks later, Tadashi got a text. 

_“You’re in”_

He also got specific instructions for him and Hiro to meet their guide at a gas station in the north part of town. The business was called ‘Oaken’s’ and their guide would be in a light blue Honda Pilot. 

So, as per instructions, Tadashi wrangled Hiro onto his scooter at 8:30 that Friday night, and the two headed out. Hiro complained a bit, but eventually quieted when he realized Tadashi was actually taking him to a bot fight - not to SFIT. 

The parking lot at Oaken's was mostly empty. A muddy looking station wagon that probably belonged to the owners, a brown and white motorcycle, and a light blue pilot. However, no one was inside the car waiting. 

The boys shrugged and headed inside the convenience store. The man behind the counter was a large blonde fellow, and he spoke with a bit of a norweigan accent, gesturing to random things in the store. 

And sitting around the slushie machine was a small group of young adults. 

Two boys and two girls, and all decked out in semi punk attire. One of the men had shaggy brown hair with a goatee, and wore a worn blue vest over a off-white button up. Buttons and patches littered the empty space of his vest. The other man was taller and broader, with blonde hair and a furry aviator jacket. He wore a grey beanie on his head, and one of the girls - a short strawberry blonde, kept reaching up to mess with the hat. The strawberry blonde wore the brightest colors of the group, but her dark pink coat had similar patches to the first man. Her high knee socks looked like they’d seen better days, and her jean skirt was frayed and ripped. The last girl was tall and very blonde, hair swept back into a french braid. Her shirt sparkled under the fluorescent lighting, and her ripped lace tights covered her pale legs, where she wore electric blue boots. 

Hiro gulped. 

She was the perfect mix of intense and beautiful. If Hiro didn’t know better, he’d call her a queen. 

The brunet man turned to the brothers. 

“You Tadashi Hamada?” He asked. 

“Yeah,” Tadashi replied, pushing Hiro’s shoulder to knock him out of his stupor. “This is Hiro, the fighter,” 

The man nodded, looking the fifteen year old up and down. 

“He’s the hustler?” He asked. “I’m Flynn, this is my girlfriend Elsa -” 

The platinum blonde nodded, taking a sip from her slushie. 

“I’m Anna!” The strawberry blonde interrupted. “This is Kristoff! You’re going to Mash Night at the Cove?” 

“Uh… yeah,” Hiro mumbled. “Do you fight?” 

Anna laughed. 

“My bot isn’t much of a fighter,” She giggled, then patted the shoulder bag at her side. “O.L.A.F. is more of an entertainer,” 

“O.L.A.F?” Tadashi asked. “That stand for something?” 

“Operational Lifelike Animatronic Figure,” The girl rattled off. 

“We should get going,” Flynn said, waving at the cashier. “Thanks for putting us up Oaken!” 

“Is my pleasure!” The man laughed. “Kristoff, you ride careful, alright?” 

The blonde man nodded, and the group went back out into the parking lot. Kristoff and Anna climbed onto the motorcycle, donning helmets that easily represented them. Flynn and Elsa let Hiro and Tadashi climb into the backseat of the blue car, and the group set off towards the outside of San Fransokyo. 

The inside of Elsa’s car was really cold. The AC was cranked high, but Flynn had cracked his window, letting a warm stream of air into the car. The man asked a bit more about the brothers, finding out if Hiro really was as good a fighter as Philip had talked him up to be. 

“What are Mash Nights?” Tadashi asked at one point. 

“They’re like open mic, but for bot fighting,” Flynn answered. “My sister and her friends fight at the Cove every Friday night, but once a month, they open up to the public, so they can actually win the rent money,” 

“That’s presumptuous,” Hiro muttered. “What if they lost it all?” 

Flynn laughed. “Between the four of them, they don’t.” 

Hiro rolled his eyes. “So they’re an exclusive place? Sounds dumb,” 

“The bot fighting is really a side gig, but the Cove also acts as a bar and general hang out point. They’ve got the bots for sure, but there's also the mechanics shop and the pub.” 

“And the best part?” Elsa smiled. “The cops can’t do a thing about the ring,” 

“Why's that?” Tadashi asked. 

Flynn smiled. “They’re _legal_ ,” 

“A buddy at the city council got them in the clear,” Flynn explained. “Any bot fighting that happens there is officially ‘demonstration only’, so they don’t get busted,” 

They rode on for twenty more minutes, mostly in silence, until they reached a large warehouse. Hiro watched as the small windows flashed with colored lights, trying to pick the place apart with his brain. Tadashi smirked a bit. This was going to pay off big time. 

Elsa parked and the group reunited with Anna and Kristoff before entering the building. 

Music beat throughout the building, echoing up into the ceiling. The walls were decorated with painted murals, most depicting different bots that had come through, the stats and attacks listed below in a loopy handwriting. Deeper into the warehouse, three bot fighting rings were set up. Two small ones in the front, mostly for practice or beginners, and the big middle one for the big fights. The ring wasn’t your typical chalk circle either. It was huge and made out of metal and plexiglass, something that couldn’t be swept away during a police raid. 

The restaurant part of the Cove was bustling with spectators and fighters alike. The bar was relatively full, and everywhere Hiro looked, he saw a bot. 

Anna sped off towards the bar, while Kristoff grabbed a table by the rings. Elsa gave Flynn a peck on the cheek and followed. Anna began to help the bartender with drinks, taking over so the other girl could join Flynn and the others. 

“This is my sister,” Flynn said quickly, stepping back to let the girl into the circle. “Rapunzel, this is the guy Philip recommended,” 

Rapunzel smiled widely and stuck out a hand to both Hiro and Tadashi. She stepped back and eyed them up, then pointed at Hiro. 

“It’s him. He’s the one,” 

Hiro blinked. “How did you know that?!” 

“You looked excited. Your brother looks terrified,” She said, putting her hands on her hips. “Welcome to Mash Night,” 

Rapunzel and Flynn did not look similar, despite his claims of them being siblings. Rapunzel was short and skinny, with long blonde hair that was tied up in a layered braid down her back. A thick pink ribbon was tied at the top, and she wore a shirt and vest combo with light purple paint stained capris. She didn’t look threatening, but Hiro remembered that Flynn had claimed his sister was one of the Cove owners. 

“Hope I get to fight you later,” Rapunzel said. “I can introduce you to the others, or you can run around for a bit-” 

“WOAH!” 

“DUCK!” 

“MOVE!” Rapunzel screamed, diving forwards and shoving Tadashi and Hiro down as a robot arm went flying towards them. The girl stood up and glared at the beginner rings. “BE CAREFUL PEOPLE!” 

The blonde disappeared towards the rings, off to either rag on the culprit or watch the fighting herself. Flynn shrugged, then joined his girlfriend at her table. 

Hiro was pumped to run around and check out the rings and competitors. Tadashi knew his brother was ready to go wild, and gave him a reassuring pat. 

“Don’t cause fights or con people,” He muttered. “These people are legit,” 

Hiro rolled his eyes and wandered towards the beginner rings. People mulled about, some with bots in their hands or bags, others there just to see the fights. There was a small crowd around Ring B, and the cheering started to get louder, so Hiro forced his way in. 

Then gasped. Because for one, the fight was actually good, and two, it looked like it was about to get better. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiro and Tadashi have officially made it into The Cove. Flynn and Rapunzel are adopted siblings in this AU, not biological. Thanks for reading! 
> 
> Does anyone have any guesses about who’s fighting in Ring B?


	3. Friendly Fighting I

Chapter Three:

Violet Parr smirked and tapped out several commands on her controller. This match was just for fun, a warm up before the big battles, but she still wanted to smash Penny into the ground. 

“GO VI!” Her boyfriend yelled from the sidelines. Wilbur went absolutely crazy when she fought, but Violet secretly thought it was cute. He’d always loved to claim the spot as her biggest fan. “KICK HER ASS, BABE!” 

“Wilbur!” Penny griped dramatically, “I thought we were friends!” 

Penny’s bot was modeled after her service dog Bolt, and had a sleek white canine design. The joints were reasonably armored, and the dog was solidly built to withstand some heavy blows. She’d also named it after Bolt, and used the same sort of commands to control it. 

Violet’s bot - Invisi - was built for speed and agility. Using technology Wilbur's father had helped them with, the robot was able to go ‘invisible’ or mostly camouflaged. It also had the ability to generate tiny force fields to deflect attacks. 

A small crowd had gathered around the girls. A lot were other botfighters, who seemed impressed that the younger girls were having such an intense fight. Some had even started to place bets. 

* * *

Hiro pushed to the front of the crowd, watching as two girls around his age battled it out. A third teenager, a boy, stood with a large blond man, both of whom were cheering loudly for the dark haired girl. The redhead sat with a white dog, which nuzzled her elbow encouragingly. 

Hiro was impressed by the two fighters. The bots circled in the ring, both striking and defending like they knew each other's moves. When the cheerleaders for ‘Violet’ also began yelling encouragement at ‘Penny’ Hiro figured that they must have come as a group. 

“Wow, they’re so fluid!” He remarked to the girl next to him, effortlessly slipping into his shy and inexperienced kid routine. “Wish I could fight like that!” 

She looked at him and started laughing. Hiro felt a bit offended. This kid looked like she was ten years old, and she was laughing at him? 

She brushed her long dark hair back and smirked. “You have to be skilled to get in here buddy. The scouts aren’t newbies,” 

Hiro dropped the act. 

“I’m the best bot fighter in the world.” He muttered. The girl laughed again. Hiro started to get annoyed. 

“You must be new here,” She said. “The Cove has the best fighters, and then on top of that, they’ve got the Cove Golems. My brother could probably beat you into the ground.” 

“Are you even allowed to be here?” Hiro snapped, focusing back on the fight. He still hadn’t managed to see anything of the other fighter than her short red hair. “Isn’t it past your bedtime?” 

“Isn’t it past yours?” The girl sassed, crossing her arms. “I’m Emma. I’m here all the time, shortstack,” 

“You’re shorter than I am!” Hiro protested loudly. 

“You’re on,” Emma huffed, pushing up the sleeves of her baseball tee. She balled up a fist and - 

“Woah there!” Another voice chimed in, stepping between the two kids. “Ems, chill out,” 

He had spiky white hair and bright blue eyes, and wore a blue hoodie with some painted details. The man looked back and forth between Emma and Hiro, then stuck a hand out. 

“I’m Jack, one of the Cove leaders, you are?” 

“Hiro Hamada. I’m the best bot fighter-” 

The man laughed. “Good luck keeping that title,” 

Hiro scowled. He’d met two of the four owners and they didn’t seem like all that much. Heck, one of them brought his kid sister to the fights. They couldn’t be that dangerous if a kid was there. He proceeded to mutter that sentiment. 

“Look man, don’t pick on my sister,” Jack said slowly but carefully. “If you can’t have fun in here, then I’m going to have to ask you to leave.” 

Emma’s eyes went wide in surprise. Hiro scowled harder. Jack just stared expectantly. Finally, Hiro relented. Jack smirked. 

“See you in the ring,” The white haired man said, leaving. Emma looked back at Hiro. 

“You need to loosen up,” 

Hiro rolled his eyes, but inside, he kind of agreed. He wasn’t the best at making friends, and if his interaction with Emma was anything to go by, he needed to work on it. 

As if she read his mind, Emma turned back toward him and stuck a hand out. 

“Emma Overland-Frost.” She said, tilting her head up almost regally. “You are?” 

“Hiro.” He replied, taking the offered handshake. “Hiro Hamada,” 

“I wish you luck, Hiro Hamada,” Emma said, then smirked. It was identical to her brother's earlier smile. “Except when you take on Jack,” 

* * *

The fight between Violet and Penny was starting to drag on in both girls' opinions, so they decided to step it up. 

It started when Penny used one of her special commands on her friend. Looking down at her dog, she smirked and looked straight into Violet’s eyes. 

“Bolt.  _ Speak. _ ” 

The dog next to her woofed and the robot firmly planted its feet on the ground. Violet groaned as she recognized Penny’s signature move. 

The white and silver bot opened its mouth and ‘barked’, emitting a loud and short sonic wave that hit Invisi full force. The thinner robot stumbled back, and defensively turned invisible, causing Penny to lose sight of it. 

“Zoom zoom,” Penny muttered, and the robot went flying in tight circles around the arena, slowly closing in on the middle. When it got so close, a light purple light materialized around Violet’s bot as it became visible and deflected the robotic dog's attacks. 

Violet turned Invisi invisible again and aimed for the neck of Penny’s bot. She knew if she could hit it, the fight would be over and she could win. The robot ran towards the other one, jumping midair to land the final blow when - 

“SPEAK!” 

Penny’s bot spun around and launched another sonic bark at Invisi. The thinner bot was caught off guard and unstable, and it flew out of the ring, skidding the ground in front of Violet. An automatic win for Penny. 

The crowd cheered, many excited with the first fight of the Mash Night. Violet and Penny grabbed their robots and stood up to face them. Wilbur ran over to Penny and pulled her arm up into the air, then bowed dramatically, pulling the ginger down with him. 

Hiro watched this happen, and smiled a bit at the group's obvious friendship. He took a deep breath and stepped forward to introduce himself. 

The ginger girl turned around, brushing her bangs to the side. She was smiling widely, holding onto a harness on the back of a white and black dog. She looked entirely comfortable in the Cove, like she’d won several botfights on her own and wasn’t intimidated. 

Hiro gulped. She was his age. He’d never met another botfighter his age that was even mildly successful. Emma started to giggle. He glared at her. 

“Shut up,” He muttered. “You don’t even fight,” 

“I could if I wanted to,” She muttered. 

“You’re like, ten.” 

“I’m thirteen dipstick,” Emma laughed. “And I’m your only friend, so be nice,” 

She grabbed Hiro by the arm and dragged him up to the other teens, beaming the whole time. If she hadn’t been his only friend since sixth grade, Hiro might have killed her. 

“Penny! Wilbur! Vi!” Emma yelled. The other teens turned to face her. 

“Hey Emma!” Penny answered. “Nice to see you again!” 

“This is Hiro!” Emma said quickly, yanking Hiro into the circle. “I think you guys would really get along!” 

Hiro awkwardly waved. The other teens stood still for a minute, then invited him to sit with them and hang out during the fights. He happily agreed. Emma smiled and ran off to find Jack, but sent Hiro a thumbs up before leaving. He returned the gesture. 

It was nice to have somebody. 

Hiro learned a lot about the other teenagers while they snacked on a plate of nachos. The Cove was pretty exclusive, and anyone younger than eighteen couldn’t get in without an adult escort. Wilbur’s adoptive older brother Carl had been bringing him and the girls, but he had had to work that night. Instead, Violet’s father Bob Parr had driven them. The man was tall and well built, but had surprising love for the bot fighting thrill, which was the reason his daughter was able to compete. Wilbur and Violet had been dating for a year or so, and had really bonded while building Invisi (which both teens referred to as their ‘baby’). 

Penny, on the other hand, claimed that Bolt was her true love. She and the dog had been together since she was eight years old. When she was thirteen, they’d been in a house fire, which had damaged her lungs. Now Bolt acted as her service dog, monitoring her heart rate during the botfights. 

Hiro almost forgot the reason he was at the Cove. He was having so much fun with Wilbur, Penny and Violet that he was surprised when Tadashi appeared at their table. 

“Hey bro, you ready to fight soon?” The older boy asked. 

Hiro nodded and smirked. He might have made friends, but he was still very overconfident. 

“Never been more ready,” He laughed. “I’m the best bot fighter in the world,” 

Violet laughed a little. 

“We’ll see,” 

“What?” 

“We’ll see about that,” She said, putting her drink down. “After you fight the Big Four,” 

Wilbur nodded. 

“Especially the Dragonmaster,” 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I find Willet (Wilbur x Violet) adorable but severely underrated. I also aged Emma up a bit for this story, so she'd be closer in age to the other teens, but it worked because I also aged them up by a few years. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy this chapter! The Hiro Arc is about halfway over, but the real fighting starts soon.


	4. Robot Rounds

Chapter Four: Robot Rounds 

“Dragon-master?” Hiro said. “That’s a weird nickname,” 

“It fits though,” Wilbur said. “He really is,” 

“Whatever,” Hiro muttered. “I bet I can take anyone down. Even this ‘dragonmaster’,”

“I don’t know,” Tadashi interjected, sitting down. “Flynn and Elsa were telling me about the owners. Sundrop and Frost are sneaky fighters, but Wisp and the Dragonmaster? They’re monsters.” 

“That sounds like a rumor,” Hiro snarked. Penny shook her head. 

“No no no!” She said. “They’re actually great. The end of Mash Night is always them against each other. Those two are awesome!” 

“Good luck man,” Wilbur said, giving Hiro a pat on the back. “From what I know about you, I think you’ll get to the semi-finals,” 

“So much faith!” The boy griped. 

“No, no, no, they’ve got a point,” A new voice said, joining the conversation. The group turned to look at Flynn. The man made the universal ‘come on’ motion and gestured to the rings. “It’s starting people!” 

The music in the warehouse cut out and a loud voice came on over a speaker system. 

“WELCOME TA MASH NIGHT!” The voice boomed, a hint of a scottish accent intermingled in the words. “YOU’VE ALL BEEN BROUGHT IN TA FIGHT! NAH LE’S GET TA IT!” 

The crowds cheered loudly. A big spotlight clicked on, illuminating the biggest arena, and four young adults stepped up onto a raised platform behind it. Hiro recognized Rapunzel and Jack, and noticed the other two were a tall shaggy haired brunet boy and a curly haired redhead holding a microphone. He figured they were the other two owners. 

“ITS MASH NIGHT AND YEH KNOW WHA THA MEEEEAANS!” The redhead crooned, leaning back onto the brunet boy and grinning as the botfighters screamed. He nudged her a little with his elbow, a bit uncomfortable with all the attention. 

Rapunzel pumped a fist in the air.    
  


“WHAT DO YOU WANT?” 

“A BOT FIGHTTTTTT!” Jack and the other boy howled. 

“That’s Hiccup and Merida,” Tadashi whispered to Hiro. “Together, all four of them run the place,” 

The botfights were due to start any minute. Apparently, the Cove set up fights using a newbie method. The newest fighters battled first, and then it progressed onto older competitors. Hiro found out he would be fighting against a dark haired goth girl named Mavis. 

His first fight was fairly easy. Since he didn’t have to keep up the inexperienced act, He could use Megabots main attacks. Mavis’s bot was a small batlike one, and Hiro popped the head off after a minute. The girl was a fairly gracious loser, and she joined another botfighter to keep watching. 

After Mavis’s defeat, Hiro fought against a girl with fire engine red hair. She wore a few kooky seashell pins in her very voluminous locks, and her bot seemed to be based off of a lobster. Hiro defeated her quickly, then sped through the next few fights, Tadashi and the others cheering for him when they weren’t fighting. 

He slowed down when he battled Penny. She bit her lower lip in concentration and slammed out attacks quickly and efficiently. Hiro wasted a little extra time by severing the front two legs of her bot using a separation move, which Penny later congratulated him on. He returned the favor by complimenting some of her moves, glad the fight hadn’t seemed to dent their friendship.

The fights moved quickly. When he wasn’t in the ring, he was back at his table with his coke or he was watching possible opponents. He had yet to see any of the ‘Big Four’ fight. When one of them had an opponent, the crowds got so thick Tadashi had trouble seeing. And Tadashi was freakishly tall. 

Hiro barreled through his other fights. He took down adults with bots maxed out to the nines, twenty-somethings up to date with the latest moves and tactics, and even some Cove regulars. By the time he was fighting a blonde boy with a thick and stumpy lizard shaped bot, Hiro had been forced to reveal Megabots full capabilities. There was a low whistle that coursed through the crowd when the controller expanded and the tiny robot reformed into a snake. Hiro smiled. He loved when the crowd reacted. Tapping out a few moves in quick succession, Hiro separated the ‘Meatlug’s’ head from its body. 

“Good game man!” The blond boy said, gathering up his robot. “You might have a shot against Astrid!” 

Astrid was a muscular blonde who stood tall among the various botfighters. Her bot was a blue and yellow birdlike thing. Hiro had seen one of her fights, and the girl was a tough competitor. Her main attacks were flying feather shaped darts that the robot flung using its tail. Hiro was actually a little excited for their battle. 

They’d hit the last round before the semi-finals. Everyone was gathered around to see the final fights. In the brief five minute break before the faceoffs, Hiro and Tadashi watched Anna walk out into the largest area with her bot. 

“DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS!?” The strawberry blonde shrieked to the crowd. 

“O.L.A.F. TIME!” The regulars cheered back. Elsa and Flynn whooped loudly. 

“O.L.A.F. time?” Hiro asked his brother. Tadashi shrugged. 

Anna set the pudgy white robot in the middle of the ring and stepped back. She pulled out a tiny controller and pressed a button. A ring of LED lights inside the ring lit up and started flashing. A jazzy broadway type song came on over the speakers, just as the little pudgy snowman stood up. 

The little robot - O.L.A.F. - started to perform a dance to the music. It bounced around, did a few rough cartwheels and performed a quick dance to the song. The music started to die down, and the bot climbed up to the top of the arena and started telling a few jokes, pointing out specific people and giving the crowd a well deserved break from the bot fighting stress. Anna joined in a few times, adding to her bot’s jokes as the crowd laughed. 

“My roommate Josh did the voice,” Kristoff whispered to Tadashi. “He’s an improv guy, and he and Anna meet every month to get a new skit together,” 

“That’s impressive,” Tadashi said. “She doesn’t fight with him though?” 

Kristoff shook his head. “Personality chip makes him too illegal to use in fights. Nobody wants to ‘kill’ him,” 

“A personality chip?” Tadashi asked. 

“It’s a thing here,” Kristoff whispered, looking around for a second. “But the fighters have to make theirs removable, overwise they could get in lots of trouble with city council. They’d say it’s immoral,” 

“Wow…” Tadashi muttered, watching as the girl finished her act and bowed, picking up the robot and leaving the ring. “That sure is something,” 

* * *

Anna smiled as the crowd cheered for the O.L.A.F. performance. It had been a particularly intense one this week, so she was glad it had paid off. She took the offered list from Rapunzel and raised the microphone to her mouth. 

“HEY PEOPLE! IT'S TIME FOR A FIGHT!” She yelled, the crowd bursting into cheers. “FOUR FIGHTS UNTIL THE SEMIFINALS!” 

“SEMI FINALS! SEMI FINALS!” 

Anna read the list out quickly, then stepped out of the ring to let them get started. The first fight was going to be between Astrid and Hiro, and as much as she’d seen Astrid tear her opponents apart, she was acutely aware of Hiro’s capability. 

Anna stepped back and stood next to her sister. Elsa fiddled with the arm joint on her robot (affectionately named MASHmallow) and stared intently at the impending fight. Elsa would be fighting next, but already knew that she’d lose. 

Elsa was going against the Dragonmaster. 

* * *

Hiro furrowed his eyebrows and focused on the bot on the opposite side of the ring. The ‘Stormfly’ was an impressive piece of machinery. Her weaponized feather darts were carefully placed on the tail and back of the head. She had winglike arms at the sides, equipped with long blades and a tiny circular saw at each end. 

The bot was truly deadly. 

Hiro wasn’t worried though. He lazily set Megabot in the ring and sat down. Astrid - the Stormfly's owner - sat down in her place. Her thick blonde braid draped over her shoulder, and she brushed her bangs over to the side. 

“READY?” Rapunzel yelled, standing in the middle of the ring. The crowd cheered. Rapunzel smiled and jumped out. “ONE! TWO! THREE! FIGHT!” 

Stormfly flicked her tail, sending two darts towards Megabot. They sliced right through the magnetic joints, severing the robot. Astrid waited a moment, starting down at Hiro while waiting for someone to call the fight. 

Hiro smiled, and as the rising cheer from Tadashi, Penny, Wilbur and Violet reached its peak, he extended the controller. Astrid’s eyes widened. 

“Megabot. Destroy,” He whispered. The tiny robot reattached, launching itself towards the Stormfly. The bigger bot thrashed, trying to use its tail to remove Megabot from it’s back. Megabot avoided every attack by separating and magnetising somewhere else. The robot snaked around Stormfly’s tail and squeezed, severing it from the rest of the robot. Megabot flipped the severed tail around and stabbed into the back of the neck, shutting down the bot’s control mechanisms. 

The Stormfly slumped over, falling motionless as Astrid’s jaw dropped. The older girl stared at the bots, then looked up at Hiro. Her eyes narrowed and she made a move to stand up, but another man put a hand on her shoulder. Astrid took a breath and glared across the ring, suddenly jutting a hand out. 

“Good fight,” She said gruffly. The older girl gathered up her bot and moved towards the bar, and Hiro was pushed away from the ring as the next fighters started to get ready. 

“MEGABOT WINS!” Anna called into the loudspeaker. “HIRO MOVES ON! NEXT FIGHT: WISP VERSUS IRON GIANT!” 

“That was a good fight, man!” Wilbur cheered, thumping Hiro on the back. The boys joined the girls, but the small group didn’t have a great view of the arena. Hiro could see the bushy red hair of the one of the Cove Golems, and her opponent - a tall brown haired twenty-something wearing an aviator jacket. 

Hiro could barely see the bots. He saw flashes of grey and blue, heard the sounds of sawing and air pressured shots. Violet had climbed on top of Wilbur’s shoulders to see, but the teenager struggled a bit to stay steady. Hiro watched as Mr Parr lifted his teenage daughter off of her boyfriend and onto his own shoulders. Violet barely noticed, but cheered loudly as a particularly loud clang echoed throughout the warehouse. 

“Shit, I wish I could  _ see _ ,” Hiro griped, bouncing up to his toes to try and catch more than a glimpse. The crowd was too thick, just like it was when any of the big four fought. 

The fight was over quicker than Hiro’s. There was a loud cheer as the bushy redhead stood up, triumphant in the fight. She pocketed her winnings, then jogged over to her opponent and gave him a high five. The Iron Giant’s owner grinned, disappearing back towards the bar. 

Hiro was also unable to watch the next fight, as an even bigger crowd pushed forwards. He resigned himself to fix some of Megabot’s injuries at the groups table, where Tadashi joined him. 

“Hey bro, excited for the rest of the fights?” He asked, sipping from his drink. The younger teen nodded. 

“I’ve been racking up winnings,” He said. “Not as much as I normally get, but the atmosphere makes up for it,” 

“Have you seen your competitors fight?”

Hiro shook his head. 

“Too short. Apparently their fights get a lot of attention, and I can’t see a thing,” 

Tadashi laughed and placed his glass on the table. 

“It isn’t all about the money,” He said. “This is something else,” 

Hiro bristled. 

“Look Tadashi. I’m the  _ best _ bot fighter in the world. I can win ANY FIGHT I TAKE!” 

Tadashi paled a bit. He stared at the younger boy, watching as he got angier. Hiro definitely had something to prove, but Tadashi had a sneaking suspicion that it wasn’t just about bot fighting. 

Hiro wanted to matter. He wanted to be important. 

He wanted to be worth something. 

Hiro pushed past his brother and stormed towards the ring. He shoved through the crowd, fighting his way up to Anna, who was still holding onto the microphone. 

“I’m challenging the Cove Golems.” He said, voice short and level. Anna stared at him, confused. 

“You what?” She muttered. “That’s a strong statement!” 

“I’m challenging the Cove Golems.” He said. “And I’m doing it now,” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I almost forgot to post this chapter today! I've been trying to finish the next one (also RotBTD, dark seasonal au). I'm struggling a little bit. Its a very old story concept that I personally liked, and the outline flowed really well, but its the writing thats getting me down. I kinda just want to start a bunch of other ones, but I know if I do, nothing will EVER get done. 
> 
> A long chapter for you guys today, with several fun easter eggs (feel free to review and guess!). I plan to put all the easter eggs in a bonus chapter at the end, but I think they're all easy to catch. 
> 
> Reveiw if you enjoyed/have questions. I cannot explain how happy it makes me when I see reactions. Chapter five will be out next week.


	5. The Challenger

Chapter Five: The Challenger 

“I’m challenging the Cove Golems.” He said. “And I’m doing it now,” 

Anna stared blankly at the younger boy, watching as his focused expression steadied. Things like this had happened before - yes, but never like this. The challengers were huge bulking bot fighters, mobsters and gang runners who’d climbed the botfighting ladder. 

Not a skinny fourteen year old Asian kid on his first night. 

Anna nodded slowly and ran for her sister, who stood over Rapunzel, watching as the blonde and Jack battled it out. 

“Guys, we have a… situation,” The strawberry blonde whispered, and Elsa gave her a look. 

Rapunzel, who didn’t take her eyes off the two robots battling in the ring, nodded. 

“Report.” 

“Challenger. He wants to fight you,” Anna said. Rapunzel nodded again. 

“So?” 

“ _ All _ of you, Punzie,” 

The blonde fumbled a command on her remote controller and the green and purple chameleon bot accidentally went left instead of right. Across from her, Jack looked up with a worried expression, and Rapunzel quickly shook her head before going back to her fight. 

“All of us? Who is this guy?” 

“His name is Hiro,” Anna said. “Flynn scouted him, he’s good yeah, but this was a wack move even for the best fighter,” 

“I guess tell him to get ready then!” Rapunzel said, dodging a few attacks from Jack. “It’s in the rules, challengers takes precedence over the other fights - just call a ten minute prep slot so I can tell the others!” 

And with that, the Pascal leaped over the Bunnymund and tossed it out of the ring. Elsa called the fight, and Rapunzel stood up victorious. 

A few minutes later, Jack appeared next to the blonde, Emma in tow. 

“What happened out there?” He asked worriedly, brushing a stray hair back from Rapunzel’s face. “It looked like Anna scared you - is it Gothel?” 

Rapunzel shook her head. 

“No, no, I’m fine, she just surprised me. We need to find Merida and Hiccup though, there’s something big.” 

“How big?” 

Rapunzel bit her lip. 

“The first full Cove Golem challenge since we went legal?” 

Jack’s jaw dropped. Emma gasped and smiled a bit. Rapunzel had a feeling the girl knew who the challenger was. 

“So... big,” Rapunzel summed up, twisting a loose strand of hair. “Let’s go,” 

* * *

After a ten minute break that went way too fast, Rapunzel found herself seated across from a short Asian teen. He didn’t look old enough to have even driven himself to the Cove, much less be such an accomplished bot fighter. 

Hiccup and Merida were just as gobsmacked as Jack had been when Rapunzel relayed the challenge to them. Merida questioned the legitimacy of the boy's claim, but one thing was for sure. 

They were going to make so much money off of this. 

Rapunzel glanced at the tray that held the bets. Half of her current winnings were piled onto it, along with her competitors. If this boy was as good as he claimed, the pile would be huge by the time he fought Hiccup. 

Rapunzel took a breath and watched Anna pull the flag out of the arena. 

“Go time.” 

* * *

Hiro did his best to stare down Rapunzel. 

The blonde was thin and pretty, not your typical bot fighter in any sense. Her bot, like her clothes, was covered in paint splatters and spiralling designs. The robot looked like a chameleon, had glowing yellow eyes and three tiny pulsing bulbs on its head. The tail curled in the back, and tiny saw blades lined it. 

It wasn’t as unassuming as Hiro’s Megabot was, but it did have a childlike quality to it. The colors and patterns clearly hid the dangerous elements. 

Hiro wasn’t fazed though. He set Megabot in the ring and settled into a seated position. He cracked his knuckles and picked up the controller, extending it to the full width. 

He wouldn’t need the theatrics. 

Emma, who had taken the flag from Anna, leaned over the plexiglass covering and waved it between the two bots. 

“THREE!” 

“TWO!” 

“ONE!” 

“FIGHT!” Emma shrieked and yanked the flag up and out, sliding down the covering, Jack catching her before she hit the bottom. 

Rapunzel struck first, sending Pascal spinning through the air to strike with his tail. It easily cut through Megabot’s magnetic joints, slicing the smaller bot into pieces. 

Megabot separated and tried to snap Pascal’s tail off, but a quick button combo caused the tail blades to move. Sawing like a chainsaw, Pascal’s tail started to slice into Megabot’s exterior armor. 

The smaller bot detached from the tail and swiveled down to Pascal’s legs. Staying in snake mode, Megabot encircled and squeezed the chameleon's legs, sending the bigger bot into the ground. A roar went up from the crowd, some in defeat as they anticipated Rapunzel’s defeat and the other half as they cheered for Hiro. Megabot moved to deliver the final blow, raising his arms to slam into the joint between Pascal’s head and chest.

Time seemed to slow down. As the tiny robot’s limbs neared the joint, Rapunzel tapped out a quick combo on her controller. Pascal’s legs bent around, pushing the tiny robot into a bridge before the razor sharp tail smacked Megabot into the arena wall. 

Hiro gritted his teeth and tapped out some controls of his own. Megabot landed in a superhero pose and sprung forwards, tackling Pascal. 

The two bots rolled across the arena floor, limbs tangled and flailing. Shouts and jeers sprouted from the crowd. On Hiro’s side, Tadashi and his new friends watched with bated breath. On Rapunzel’s, the rest of Cove Golems had expressions of shock. 

Hiro feinted right, ducking Pascal’s swinging tail. He maneuvered Megabot effortlessly, gritting his teeth and hiding how fast he was trying to come up with ways to beat the older girl. He kept dodging, backing up towards the arena walls. Pascal had Megabot cornered, but as the bigger bot swung its tail for the final blow, Megabot ducked. 

Pascal’s tail thudded into the metal wall, catching on the seam between two pieces and  **sticking** . 

Rapunzel’s eyes widened. A series of gasps spread through the crowd. Hiro smirked. 

Megabot stabbed the neck joint again. It didn’t miss. 

The light in the robot eyes died and it dropped to the ground. Megabot stepped over the chameleon bot and bowed to Rapunzel. 

“MEGABOT WINS!” Emma shrieked, but her eyes were wide with shock. 

Hiro couldn’t stop the grin that stretched over his face.

* * *

Jack added his own portion of money to the pot and settled into his seat, fiddling with the joysticks on his controller. It gave him a laid back and chill appearance, but his friends knew that he was studying the competition. 

The Hiro kid hadn’t been much to look at when he’d seen him with Emma. In fact, Emma could probably beat him up. But he’d taken down Rapunzel. And Rapunzel was really good when it got down to the final fights. Which meant Jack had to figure out a way to beat the kid  **or** knock him down so Merida or Hiccup could beat him. 

The fight started calmly. The two bot circled each other in the ring. Megabot stood straight, walking with the precision of a ninja. Jack's robot - Bunnymund, named for his favorite friend/councilman - stayed crouched, in its less intimidating defensive mode. 

Suddenly, Megabot lunged forwards, aiming a strike at Bunnymund's ears. Jack tapped a button, and at the last second, the robot unfolded into offensive mode. 

Still rabbitlike in design, the Bunnymund now stood three times higher, with thick armor plated joints and glowing blue lights reflecting off the side of the arena. Jack noticed Hiro’s face. For a brief second, there’d been a flash of fear and surprise. 

Jack took the opportunity and let Megabot slide harmlessly between Bunnymund's legs. The bigger bot moved quickly, slamming one of its feet on the smaller robot's chest. Megabot squirmed, but Jack smirked and flipped a switch on the side of his controller. 

Tiny lights on the robots foot guards pulsed bright blue right before a sudden chill filled the air. Hiro watched in disbelief as the front panels of Megabot started to frost. 

Jack smirked. He had the smaller robot pinned, and in about 30 more seconds, he’d have completely disabled Megabot’s inner engines. He watched Hiro intently, picking up on how the younger boys eyes moved frantically as he tried to find a way to break the pin. 

Megabot squirmed, and with a few quick movements on Hiros' part, broke into his three pieces - scattering across the arena. Bunnymund's foot slammed into the ground, frosting a bit of it before Jack turned the feature off. 

Hiro launched one third of Megabot into Bunnymund, sending the other two pieces up the robot's torso. Jack slammed the frost ejectors again, but instead of encircling Bunnymund's fist, Megabot hooked both the neck and wrist, then pulled Bunnymund's face into the rapidly frosting fist, tightening his grip. 

Jack grimaced and tried to turn off the frost ejectors, but the little light indicating their status flickered. His eyes widened. 

“Turn them off!” Rapunzel hissed, eyes flickering between her boyfriend and the fight. 

“I can’t!” Jack muttered, rapidly flipping the little level. “They crashed again!” 

The frost ejectors were a genius idea. But they had the habit of losing power in the middle of a match or losing connection with the controller. Usually, Jack recovered easily enough, and no one except his friends knew about the issues. But now, they acted as his downfall. 

Rapunzel groaned, then placed a reassuring hand on Jack’s shoulder as Megabot tightened its hold. The frost broke through to Bunnymund's main controls, shutting them down as the two robots twisted in each other's grasp. 

Finally, they broke away, Bunnymund slumping to the ground as Megabot shakily reconnected and stood up - victorious. 

“MEGABOT!” The crowd cheered. Hiro didn’t register as he picked up his bot, popping open a panel to check out the damage. He almost didn’t realize when Tadashi whacked him on the back of his head. 

“What?!” He hissed, rubbing the sore spot. 

Tadashi gestured across the ring, where the Cove Golems were gathered. Hiro looked up and made eye contact with Jack, who gave him an impressed nod. 

Hiro couldn’t help it.

He smiled. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops, accidentally forgot to post this chapter yesterday! 
> 
> This chapter has two more exciting bot fights, and next week Hiro faces off against Merida and Hiccup before his arc ends. This chapter explained a lot more about the Cove Golems robots and what makes them so special. Enjoy and let me know if you guys have questions!


	6. The Challenger II

Chapter Six: The Challenger II

Hiro used his entire five minute break trying to reboot Megabot. The Bunnymund had certainly done some damage to the inner workings. Hiro was sure he could fix everything at his desk at home, but he didn’t have all his tools with him. 

He’d been lucky that the Bunnymund had experienced mechanical issues when it had. Otherwise, he might not have had the time to figure out how to win. 

Hiro gave the Cove Golems credit. They were clearly good - if not the best in their area. Hiro certainly felt challenged enough by Rapunzel and Jack, and he’d be lying if he said that the next two fights didn’t scare him a little. 

“Hey,” A voice whispered next to him. Hiro startled a bit, locking eyes with Violet Parr. The other girl smiled a bit, brushing a long strand of dark hair behind her ear. 

“Hi?” 

“Merida - that's who you’ll fight next by the way - her bot, it’s a bit like yours,” The girl said. “It’s the  _ Wisp _ . Magnetic limbs, quick attacks, hard to even  _ focus _ on. Good luck,” 

Magnetic limbs? Hiro had used Robert Callaghans high level experimental research to design Megabot, and he had even performed multiple tests before finding the right magnet strength. And Hiro was a certified genius. No one could replicate his robot design. 

The fifteen year old was dragged out of his thoughts by Emma, who was once again yelling to signify the start of the match. Hiro carefully set his robot inside the arena, followed by the red haired girl - Merida. 

Her bot was a light blue, shaped like a teardrop, with six little spider legs. On closer inspection, the legs looked like they had once been arrow shafts. The older girl cracked her knuckles and rolled her head back, a wide grin stretching across her face. Hiro noticed the last Cove Golem - the brunet boy, the  _ Dragonmaster _ \- laid a hand in her hair, ruffling it a bit as he muttered a few words of encouragement. 

Tadashi attempted to do the same. Hiro brushed him off. 

* * *

The fight started with a bang. Literally. 

Merida’s bot shot two sparking blasts at Megabot. Hiro barely dodged them, watching as the redhead’s bot - The Will o'Wisp, or  _ Wisp _ \- rolled around midair. 

_ Wisp’s _ magnetic limbs flew into two grouped formations, quickly powering up and firing several more blasts. Megabot jumped into the air, breaking into his three parts to avoid the attacks.  _ Wisp _ only sent out another volley. 

The fight waged on, and it looked like it would keep going on. Both Megabot and  _ Wisp _ were similar robots, both utilizing magnetic connection.  _ Wisp _ wasn’t exactly like Megabot, but they shared similar concepts. Whenever Megabot tried to go in for its usual limb splitting attack, it accidentally got caught in the pull of  _ Wisp’s _ magnetic connection. 

Merida huffed and blew a stand of hair out of her eyes, glaring at the bots inside the arena. The loud music blasting through the Cove’s speaker thrummed in her ears, but it only spurred her on. 

_ Wisp’s _ attacks usually caught people off guard. After hours of fighting close range brawlers, one tended to fall prey to Merida’s long range shots. A lot of fighters didn’t have the precision required to use  _ Wisp’s _ blasts, but Merida had actually gotten a lot better when she was introduced to the tactic. She had the skill needed to aim directly at her opponents weak spots, taking the other robot down cleanly and efficiently. 

But Hiro kept managing to dodge. 

It made Merida angry, but the redhead had long since learned to reign in her fury during a fight. Getting mad meant getting distracted or sloppy, and bot fights had high stakes. One slip up could mean no rent money or a busted bot that wouldn’t make anything until it was properly fixed. Both options could get expensive. 

Merida huffed again and tapped out another combination. Noticing her frustration, Hiccup squeezed her shoulder again, before leaned down to her level. 

“Magnets Meri,” He muttered before gripping her shoulder again. 

‘ _ Oh right… _ ’ She thought, zeroing in on Megabot as it flipped over her attacks. 

Two of  _ Wisp’s _ legs broke formation and fired their main weapons - two tiny hooks with strings connected to the main body. The tiny grappling hooks flashed as they caught the light, then snagged Megabot’s arm and leg. The tiny bot struggled against the lines, but only the head piece escaped as the rest was dragged closer to  _ Wisp _ . 

Hiro’s eyes widened, watching what was probably going to be his inevitable defeat. As Wisp’s cannons powered up to deliver one final blow, he sent the final piece of Megabot barreling towards it. 

The collison knocked the carefully controlled grappling hooks out of sync, and with a sickening scream of metal on metal, the two botfighters gazed down at the carnage. 

With the push of Megabot’s last attack, the two’s magnetic portions (usually their most prized asset) had turned against them. Megabot was locked to  _ Wisp’s _ main body, blocking off the connection to the bigger robot’s limbs, which lay strewn across the arena. If Megabot could move, this would have been the perfect time to strike - except the smaller robot was completely overpowered by the bigger magnets, and was also rendered stuck. 

Both Hiro and Merida stared at the bots, tapping out combos as the lights on  _ Wisp’s _ face flickered and Megabot’s face flipped from happy to angry. 

They were stuck. Together. 

“Match?” Emma asked, staring at the brunet behind Merida. Hiccup sent her a confused nod and the younger girl called the game. 

“TIE!” 

* * *

“Well tha’ turned into ah bloody mess,” Merida huffed, dropping  _ Wisp _ in one of the worktables in the Cove’s back room. She brushed a pile of tools and materials aside before planting her head next to it. “Ah’ve never felt more embarrassed!” 

Rapunzel lay a comforting hand among the redheads' curls and began to massage her neck. 

“It wasn’t that bad,” She said, brushing a loose strand of her own hair away. “Jack and I both lost,” 

“Yeah, you put up a fight,” Jack muttered, taking a swig of his drink. Rapunzel swatted a hand at him. 

“Jack don’t drink on the job!” 

The couple started lightly bickering, causing Merida to groan again. 

“It’s up to yeh Hic,” She muttered. 

Hiccup groaned. He stuck his hands into his pants pockets and started pacing along the length of the room. 

“Rapunzel he took down easily, used Pascal’s tail against her, he used Bunny’s frost generators against Jack, but there was also luck involved in that. Merida would have won, but the bots were too similar… so what keeps happening?” 

“Hiccup?” Rapunzel asked. 

“Luck. He’s usually lucky. He uses his opponents against him, but he also relies on luck - especially against us. In his other fights, he shows off. Emma said so, he thinks he’s the greatest bot fighter in the world -” 

“Hiccup,” Jack said. 

“So he’d a showoff, a genius and he’s observant. I need a way to make him confused, a way to trip him up.” 

“Hic.” Merida said, yanking her head off the table. 

“THAT'S IT!” Hiccup yelped, grabbing his bot and controller off of his desk. “I’ve got it!” 

The others shared a glance. They weren't terribly worried about the outcome - Hiccup was the best of them by far - but the new kid had skills. He’d beaten three of them after all. 

* * *

“AND FIGHT!” Emma shrieked, leaping into the air. “GO HICCUP!” 

Hiro glared as the Dragonmaster - Hiccup - held his controller loosely and watched the two bots. What kind of a name was Hiccup? And he really thought he was going to win? Hiro almost laughed. 

The Dragonmasters bot was a large black dragonlike thing. It had huge glowing green eyes, several exhaust ports and was about the size of a cat. It looked deadly, but Hiro knew better. Sometimes looks were just that. 

Hiro launched the first attack, throwing Megabot towards the dragon. He aimed for the robot's front leg, guessing that it was probably one of it’s main weapons. 

At the last second, Hiro watched as Megabot collided with the dragon’s tail, which had whipped in front to guard. 

Megabot sailed across the arena, but Hiro landed it just before it crossed the borderline. 

Hiro growled. Hiccup smiled and brushed his fingers over the bright green chip handing around his neck. 

Both bots lunged towards the middle. 

The next few minutes were a blur. Flashes of black, sparks as metal hit metal, the whir of the dragon robots hidden saw blades, burst of hot air from a fire based attack. Megabot, since it was smaller, seemed to have the advantage, but Hiccup handled his robot beautifully, using the tail to block almost all of Hiro’s perfectly targeted hits. 

And he smiled the whole time. 

Hiro had no clue how the older man was so calm. Sure he himself often fell into a routine during fights, but that was when he wasn’t being challenged. This was the most dramatic fight he’d ever been in and his opponent was barely breaking a sweat. Just  _ watching  _ him made Hiro frustrated. 

Tadashi and Penny started trying to cheer him on, but Hiro only got angrier. Hiccup’s eyes bore into him, watching intently as Hiro fumbled his next attack. The dragon bot slammed Megabot into the ground, sawing it in half. 

Hiro growled. He was being played. 

Megabot lurched forwards, leaping into the air to come down on the dragon robots back. The bot was only a few inches from the metal, from the exhausts, from the  _ head joint _ , when a panel on the back of the dragon bot slid open… 

And a wing unfurled. A wing that blocked Megabot, catching the smaller bot like a net before going completely rigid and hurling towards Hiro. 

Megabot flew out of the ring and slammed into the arena wall right below Hiro, dropping to the ground as a few sparks popped around the joints. 

“DRAGONMASTER WINS!” Emma screamed as the crowd erupted into even louder cheers. Jack grabbed his sister and girlfriend, squeezing them both before lifting Emma onto his shoulders. Merida jumped onto Hiccup’s back, whooping loudly. 

Hiro just gaped. 

He’d lost. He’d never lost before. 

Tadashi placed a hand on his brother's shoulder. 

“It’s okay y’know,” He said. Hiro glared. “I know you’re upset now, but this was probably the best bot fighting experience you’ve  _ ever _ had, right?” 

There was a beat, but Hiro nodded. He retrieved Megabot from the arena, then walked over to the table with his brother for another round of fries and cokes. 

Mr Parr slapped his back (with a little too much gusto) and congratulated him on lasting so long. Wilbur and Penny kept recounting the best parts of each battle, getting more and more outlandish with their reenactments. Wilbur almost toppled out of his chair at one point, bumping into Violet, who was discussing SFIT with Tadashi. 

Hiro stayed quiet, fiddling with Megabot in his hands, but set the robot down after a few minutes and grabbed a fry. 

“Hey ‘Dashi,” He said, using the nickname neither brother had heard for a few years. “Didn’t you say you could get us into your lab?” 

Tadashi’s eyes brightened. 

He finally had his little brother back. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, I forgot to post on Friday and am a day late. This story is finished though, so I won’t leave randomly. It will update until completion. 
> 
> In other news, we are done with the Hiro arc! Now, the story starts to focus on the Cove Golems more, and we get into the real meat and mystery. Enjoy!


	7. Decisions and Designs

Chapter Seven: Decisions and Designs

It was nearing one AM and the Cove Golems (plus Emma of course) had once again gathered in the back room. As per tradition on MASH nights, the group assessed the new fighters the scouts had brought in. If they deemed them trustworthy enough, the fighter moved up from a one time recruit to having a withstanding invitation to the following MASH nights. 

“That Joy girl sucked,” Jack said, snatching a chip off of Merida’s plate. “Audrey really peaked when she brought her cousin in,” 

Merida moved her nachos away from her friend. 

“Ah agree, Joy’s a no-go,” 

“She was nice though,” Rapunzel muttered, but put an ‘x’ next to the girls name. “But I want to keep Mavis, she had potential,” 

“Mavis yes, Joy no,” Hiccup said, fiddling with a panel on his robot's stomach. “I liked that Ariel chick though, she seemed fun,” 

“What Hic, you think she’s hot?” Jack asked, trying to get another nacho. The other man winced for a second before turning around and facing his friend. 

“No!” Hiccup’s voice cracked a bit as he panicked. “I liked her robot!” 

“Not a fan of all that red hair?” Jack teased. Merida frowned a bit, yanking at her own curls. Hiccup only blushed harder. 

“Jack, stop teasing him!” Rapunzel cried, lightly smacking her boyfriend on the arm. “Emma, knock some sense into your brother!” 

“Ariel can stay,” Merida interrupted, catching the attention of the group. “But only if we don’ let tha’  _ Tinkerbelle _ back in,” 

“That leaves… Hiro,” Rapunzel said. “Do we even need to debate this one?” 

Jack scowled a bit. 

“He did almost start a fight with Em,” 

“He’s a bit of a showoff,” Merida added. 

“He’s in.” Hiccup said, just as the robot's eyes glowed green again. “He’s  _ definitely  _ in,” 

Jack and Merida exchanged a look. 

“Of  _ course  _ he’s in!” 

* * *

“Hey guys, we’ll be leaving soon, so heads up,” Flynn said, alerting both Hiro and Tadashi. 

“We should be heading out too,” Mr Parr said, causing several groans from the other teenagers. “Besides, I’ve got to take those two home,” 

He gestured to Penny and Wilbur, who were executing some sort of choreographed dance to the music while Violet watched over her lemonade, clearly trying to hide her smile. 

“Gimme your number first!” The dark haired girl cried, pulling out her phone and opening the contacts app. She handed it to Hiro. “We’re starting a group chat with you whether you like it or not,” 

Hiro smirked, but typed his number into the phone before handing it back. Violet smiled and picked Invisi from the table. She grabbed her friends by the arms and dragged them away, following her dad as the group left the building. 

Tadashi and Hiro also packed up to leave. Tadashi finished his drink and the last few fries, while Hiro zipped up his backpack. The two caught eyes with Flynn, who nodded in acknowledgement. 

Flynn ran over to Rapunzel and the others (who were exiting the back room). The two talked for a couple seconds before hugging. Flynn ruffled his sister's hair, and the blonde yelped and tried to escape. 

“Let’s get going,” Elsa said, appearing in front of the Hamadas. “We’ve got to drop you two off at Oakens,” 

The trip back was much louder and relaxed than before. Flynn cranked the music up, loudly (and a bit drunkenly) singing the lyrics to various songs. Hiro planted his face into his knees when Tadashi joined in for a rendition of  _ Toxic _ . Even Elsa cracked a smile, but she made eye contact with Hiro through the rearview mirror and rolled her eyes when the other two hit the chorus. 

Elsa parked at Oakens, let the Hamadas out of the car, then nudged Flynn’s arm meaningfulling. The other man stared at her for a second, but jumped. 

“Hey! You moved up little man,” 

“What?” Hiro asked. 

“They want you back,” Flynn explained, pulling out his phone. “Tadashi, mind if I text you the address?” 

“No problem,” 

Flynn winked. 

“See you two next MASH Night,” 

The blue car pulled out of the parking lot and disappeared back towards the city. 

* * *

Rapunzel finished wiping the bar down. After the fights finished, a lot of people usually left, leaving behind the Cove Golems and their friends. Anna and Kristoff had stuck around, and both were wiping down the various tables. 

The blonde carried a bucket of empty glasses into the kitchen, where she promptly dumped them into the sink. Jack and Emma, who were washing dishes, sent her the same look. 

“Sorry,” Rapunzel laughed. “We don’t have Attila and Lance tonight, so this is all up to you,” 

Jack stuck his tongue out, then splashed Rapunzel with some of the water. Emma shrieked as the dishwater hit her, and soon the two siblings were locked in an intense battle. Rapunzel rolled her eyes. 

“See you guys next week!” Hiccup yelled as Astrid and Eret left. He turned back to Merida, who was sweeping out the main fighting area and smiled. “You finished over there?” 

Merida made a face. 

“Why don’ ye do this then?” She taunted, tossing the broom towards him. Hiccup almost dropped it, but rolled his eyes and took over. 

The rest of the cleaning finished quickly. They’d only sold appetizer foods (that Lance Strongbow, one of their two chefs) had already prepared that day, so the washing up went quickly. Hiccup and Merida finished cleaning the rest of the warehouse, and soon the group was bidding each other goodbye. 

“See you two tomorrow,” Jack said, readjusting Emma in his arms. The little girls adrenaline high had worn off, and she’d fallen asleep at the bar. Rapunzel shrugged her jacket (the words ‘Cove Golem’ were embroidered on the back, along with her signature golden lilies), and fished out the car keys from the pocket. 

“We’ll be in later,” The blonde said. “We gotta make sure Emma goes back to her mom,” 

Hiccup nodded. He watched as the three left the building, then made to lock up the kitchen. Merida grabbed the money box from behind the counter and carried it into the back room. When Hiccup was finished, he joined her. 

“How much did we make tonight?” 

Merida looked up from the box. 

“Enough, tha’ for sure,” 

Everyone won something during MASH Nights, but if you climbed the ranks, you got more. You could also win from betting specifically with others, and like most bot fighting arenas, the pay to play rule was still a staple. Anyone who fought in the bracket contributed an amount to the winners box. 

“This is yers,” Merida said, pushing the wooden box across the table. Inside was a mess of professionally rolled bills and messily folded ones. “Any big plans?” 

Hiccup shook his head. “Probably just keeping this place going,” 

Toothless gracefully leaped from Hiccups worktable to the one he and Merida sat at. The robot made a rumbling sound and stretched like a cat, butting his head into Merida’s hand. 

“I see yeh replaced the personality chip,” She commented, rubbing circles on the smooth metal. “Are yeh gonna bite me again, yeh wee rascal?” 

Toothless ‘purred’ again. Hiccup rolled his eyes at the robot. 

“Suck-up,” He taunted before swatting away the dragon's paw. Merida laughed. Hiccup smiled and closed the winners box. He then gestured to the metal spiral staircase in the corner. “After you M’lady?” 

Merida scoffed and stood up, stretching. Her shirt rode up a few inches towards her waist, but she didn’t notice. Hiccup glanced back down at Toothless while the redhead picked up the money box and started the climb to the second floor. Hiccup and Toothless followed. 

The Cove had been built in the front half of an old warehouse that Haddock Industries had long since abandoned. The back half made up the kitchen and back room, where a staircase led to a modified second floor that connected the catwalk that spanned the perimeter. The second floor also doubled as an apartment. 

Hiccup (who had gotten the warehouse from his dad) had first moved into the apartment space. Back then, he used the warehouse as a project space and let some of his old friends throw parties. Then he’d gotten into bot fighting, dropped out of college and met Jack, Merida and Rapunzel. The four of them quickly became fast friends, and when Merida had left home in an act of rebellion from her mothers suffocating rules, she’d moved into the unused rooms in the apartment. 

Rapunzel had been to the one to really get The Cove off the ground. While Hiccup, Jack and Merida loved the bot fighting, Rapunzel was the one to realize the true potential of the unused warehouse. She hired her brother Flynn's best friend, a cooking student named Lance Strongbow, as well as Attila Baker, an old family friend, to create a menu. The other four then worked as the wait staff during a normal work week. 

They’d struggled a lot, but since they didn’t have to pay rent and all four were insane bot fighters, they’d never gone completely broke. The Cove was placed right on the edge of both San Fransokyo and a suburban area. The pub got a steady income of families and singles, as well as botfighters. They closed by 10:30 every night, and that's when the real fun started. 

A lot of Hiccup’s old friends were botfighters now. On Fridays, everyone made their way to the Cove for as many botfights as they could take. Sometimes money was exchanged, sometimes it wasn’t. MASH Nights had started when Snotlout and the twins had accidentally spilled while bragging in other fights. As more and more bigger botfights began to ask questions, it was Jack who stepped up. 

Jack recruited their friends who didn’t fight but still went to other alleys and bars to pick out the best fighters and bring them out to the cove on a specific night. This select group brought back the best fighters - which Hiccup and the rest of the Cove Golems easily beat. There was no scamming, no tricks, just good old fashioned fighting and skills. MASH Nights soon became the only time the Cove enforced the Pay to Play rule. As MASH Nights and their normal Friday hangouts got bigger and more intense, Jack and Hiccup built the big arena. But that started to get the non-fighting patrons' attention. 

To which Jack fixed that problem as well. 

Jack had spent a lot of time inside San Fransokyo town hall as a teen. He ended up meeting a lot of city council members, and when the Cove faced difficulties in staying open with the underlying bot fighting, he called in a favor. 

E. Aster Bunnymund, a relatively new councilman who used to be a lawyer for the city took up the job. Since they used the warehouse as a ‘practice’ arena for them and their friends, Edmund Aster (nicknamed ‘Bunny’ by Jack and Emma) reasoned that it wasn’t illegal. As long as the Cove Golems paid all their bills and maintained a clean environment in their kitchen, Bunny agreed to help cover up any  _ other  _ bot fighting events. 

They’d carried on as such ever since. 

As the four fighters got more popular and well known, Merida was the one to suggest the nicknames. Rapunzel was their ray of sunshine, so she was christened Sundrop, while Jack’s enhancements to his bot got him the name Frost. She named herself Wisp, after her own bot, and Hiccup became the Dragonmaster. He’d protested at first, claiming it sounded out of place in the ring. Merida responded that if he could build his friends bots and his own to have different personalities that still listened to him, he deserved the title. Since they’d named the pub The Cove, the redhead also suggested the moniker Cove Golems. Rapunzel took the idea and ran with it. By their third official MASH Night, everyone had a custom jacket. 

And that was how the Cove Golems rolled. 

Hiccup finished brushing his teeth and got into bed, watching as Toothless climbed up the cat tower in the corner of the room. The robotic dragon settled down, eyes pulsing green until they went dark. A low hum filled the room as the bot’s charging systems fired up. 

The clock on his nightstand read 2:13. Hiccup rolled over and shut his eyes. He could hear Merida rustling around in her room down the hall. There was a loud thump and then quiet, so Hiccup assumed that she’d thrown herself on the bed. In nine hours, they have to be up and setting up the lunch service. For now, Hiccup decided that he was going to get as much sleep as he could. Rapunzel could wake him up with families already seated for all he cared. 

Toothless beeped. Hiccup looked over his shoulder and glared. 

“Goodnight,” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Joy is Joy from Inside Out. Audreys cousin will be revealed soon. Mavis is from Hotel Transylvania, Ariel is from The Little Mermaid, and Tinkerbelle is obviously Tinkerbelle from Peter Pan. I sort of imagine the dance Wilbur and Penny perform is similar to the Living Room Routine in Perks of being a Wallflower? Their friendship is so fun and random that they would totally do something like that. Also! Flynn isn’t driving drunk for those who are worried. Elsa won’t let anyone else drive her car, so he’s in the passenger seat. 
> 
> In other news, I have finished another multi chapter story and will start posting it the week after Cove Golems finishes. This one is a seasonal guardians AU with some dark versions thrown in for good luck. 
> 
> Reviews fuel the author! I don’t care if you want to comment on any little detail, I love to see interactions (I might even reply to be honest…). Anyways, Enjoy!


	8. Waitstaff I

Chapter Eight: Waitstaff I 

Hiccup woke up to a loud thumping at his door. Ignoring Toothless's annoyed noises and dragging himself out of bed, he wearily opened the door. 

Merida was holding two mugs, so the loud thumping must have been her kicking the door. The redhead also looked like she’d just woken up, but unlike Hiccup, she was already dressed for work. 

“Put a shirt on an’ drink up dragon boy,” She griped, handing over one of the mugs. Hiccup took it and reached for a flannel that hung off a hook on the door. He took a sip from the mug - coffee. Merida added an inordinate amount of sugar to everything she made, and this was no exception. It was almost  _ too  _ sweet. 

Hiccup got dressed quickly and joined Merida in the little apartment kitchenette. The redhead was finishing a bowl of cereal, so Hiccup poured himself the same. Toothless leaped onto the table, whirring happily as Merida rolled a small cat toy over to him. Downsides of putting a self-writing personality chip into a dragon the size of a cat usually meant the robot acted like one. 

“Punz called earlier,” Merida said, catching Hiccup's attention away from the dragon rolling on the table. “She wanted ta’ know ‘ow Pascal’s personality chip was going,” 

Hiccup sighed and rubbed his temple. 

“It was a completely different process than Toothless’s, that's for sure,” He said, adjusting his light green button up. “But it’s done,” 

Merida almost spilled her drink over her own green shirt. 

“Really!?” 

Hiccup smiled. 

“Yep, I set the computer to uploading the files to the chip last night, so it should be done by now,” 

Merida clapped her hands together and jumped a little. The redhead beamed so brightly, Hiccup swore it was brighter than the kitchen light. 

“We’ve got ta set it up before tha’ shift starts!” Merida cried. She dumped her cereal bowl in the sink and ran for the door. She disappeared down the hallway, leaving Hiccup with his cereal, coffee and Toothless. 

Hiccup smiled and picked up his bowl, following her at significantly a slower pace. 

“Meri you don’t even know where I put it,” 

Merida stopped in her tracks and turned around. Her curls spilled over her face and shoulders in an unbrushed heap, but Hiccup couldn’t help but admire as the sunlight made it shine like fire. 

“It's in my room, I’ll grab it,” He promised. “Here, go and open up,” 

He tossed the keys at her, but the throw was off and went sideways. Merida caught it effortlessly, and made her way down the stairs. Hiccup stepped over Toothless and back into his room, munching on his breakfast as he rummaged around on his desk. Once he’d found the little purple chip, he followed Merida to the workshop. 

It was just as messy as the night before, so Hiccup aimlessly put some things into the boxes. It left the room looking only slightly better, but he shrugged and continued on out into the pub. 

Merida had opened up the kitchen and was pulling out the crate of table settings when the front door opened and Jack and Rapunzel walked in. Both wore their uniforms and Cove Golem jackets, and carried their botfighting bags. Toothless scurried across the floor to wind between Rapunzel’s legs, and the blonde laughed. 

“Sleep well?” She asked. Hiccup shrugged and downed the rest of his cavity-inducing coffee. Merida gave her a look. Hiccup almost laughed. It was well known that Merida could sleep the entire day if given the chance. 

“Emma back with your mom?” He asked Jack, who scowled. 

“Picked her up this morning,” He muttered. “She was almost two hours late,” 

“We got here on time though!” Rapunzel interrupted, breezing between the boys and taking some of the place settings from Merida. Her space buns bobbled as she moved.

The next hour was a flurrying of work as the four Cove Golems set up the tables and rearranged them from the MASH night setup to their normal dining formation. Attila and Lance arrived twenty minutes after Jack and Rapunzel, and got to work in the kitchen. Of all the days they were open, Saturdays were some of the busiest. From their regulars to bot fighters who wanted all the information about MASH night, the four adults rarely stopped moving. 

They opened at eleven, and soon the warehouse had its fair share of customers. Jack was on seating for the lunch rush, so Merida, Rapunzel, Hiccup were busy running orders back to the kitchen. Everything was going well, and soon they’d fallen into a routine. 

“Hey Nod!” Rapunzel chirped, noticing one of the MASH night fighters at a table. “Mary-Katherine, right?” 

“MK,” The girl responded. She was a relatively new bot fighter, having only been to three MASH nights. Nod and Anna had scouted her. She had a common type robot, but her quick thinking had gotten her accepted. 

“So, what’ll it be?” The blonde asked. The couple looked down at their menus for a moment before responding. 

“Cheeseburger and fries,” Nod decided. 

“Chicken wings please,” MK added. “Two cokes,” 

“You got it,” Rapunzel said. “It’ll be out in a little bit,” 

“Hey Punz, is the new guy going up on the wall?” Nod asked, gesturing towards the walls of the Cove, which were covered in art of the best bots the Cove Golems had fought. Rapunzel had been the one to paint them, and had the most control over who was given wall status next. 

“Oh yeah,” She whispered. “I’m already thinking of the poses,” 

She delivered the order to Lance before looping back to check on her other tables. The Gru family had also been placed in her section, so she filled up their drinks and named their normal order, to which they all agreed to. 

Gru was also a seasoned MASH night fighter, but had bowed out after adopting his three daughters. Rapunzel had a sneaking suspicion that she’d be seeing Edith Gru in the ring once she got older, as the blonde girl was all over her dad’s stories. 

“RAPUNZEL!” Edith cheered, almost knocking her and her sisters drinks over, “TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED!” 

Rapunzel laughed and settled the drinks. 

“Some  _ very  _ surprising fights,” She said. “Now, your food will be out in a bit,” 

“Tellllllllllll meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!” Edith groaned, leaning over the back of her chair. Rapunzel steadied it with her hand and smiled. 

“Come on Rapunzel!” Margo said, grinning. “We wanna know!” 

“Well,” She said, leaning down over the table and smiling brightly at the girls. “A new guy came in, and he was  _ good _ . He fought us  _ all _ ,” 

“He fought you all?” Margo asked. “But you guys are all so advanced!” 

“He was super good,” Rapunzel said, “The only one who could take him down was Hiccup,” 

“Wow!” Agnes cheered, bouncing a little, while Gru steadied her. 

“I’ll go get your food, okay guys?” Rapunzel said, and made her way back to the kitchen. She put the Gru family’s order in, and picked up Nod and MK’s. Once she’d dropped both sets of food off, she’d found that there was a rare moment of free time. 

Hiccup was busy running food and orders back to the kitchen, and Jack was still seating groups as they came in. Merida was now manning the bar seating, as they wouldn’t open up the actual bar until later. 

Rapunzel walked over to an empty spot on the wall, imagining how she’d be able to paint Megabot in all his glory. Backsplash of red and yellow, probably the landing pose Hiro used the most, the ‘destroy’ face. She smiled, seeing the entire picture come together in her head. 

“You gonna start painting it tonight?” Hiccup asked, walking past with a tray of dishes. 

“Do you have the paint?” Rapunzel retorted, putting her hands on her hips and giving him a look. The brunet laughed a bit. 

“In the shed Punzie, you can start after the lunch rush,” Hiccup teased. 

* * *

The lunch rush finished without any issues, and the Cove was closed for an hour while they reset and ate themselves. Lance started to prepare appetizers for the dinner service, and Rapunzel made Jack drag out the paints for her. Merida rolled an old ladder over to the designated spot, and Rapunzel started to climb up, but Hiccup called them all back to the workroom. 

“I can put this in now,” He said, holding up the tiny purple chip. Rapunzel squealed and ran for her bot fighting bag, pulling out a powered down Pascal. She handed the bot to Hiccup, who placed him on the worktable and popped a small panel off. 

Hiccup pushed the button on his headset, giving him more light to work. He unrolled a tiny set of screwdrivers and set to work, connecting wires he’d already attached to the bot to the chip. He wired it in, carefully making it easily removable with a few easy plugs, and connected the last two wires. The little chip suddenly glowed a warm yellow, and the brunet smiled. 

“He’s ready!” Hiccup chimed, closing the panel and powering up Pascal. The little robot purred to life, stretching out in a straight line before his tail curled up. The lights on the robot's head glowed warmly, and he turned and rubbed up against Rapunzel’s arm. The blonde squealed happily, reaching out and scooping up the robot. 

“He’s great!” She yelled as Pascal climbed up to her shoulders, whirring happily. Toothless bounced up to the table, cocking his head at the ‘new’ bot. 

“You’ve got a friend now bud,” Hiccup said, rubbing his robot’s head. “Now,  _ play nice _ ,” 

Toothless gave him a ‘yeah right’ look, and Hiccup laughed. 

The Cove Golems left the workshop and went back out to the restaurant, where Attlia and Lance had finished their prep. It was nearing the dinner and bar rush, so the four young adults fixed themselves up and got ready to deal with their next round of customers. 

The usual crowd came in first, waving and taking their normal seats at the bar. Merida got herself set up behind the bar, joking with some of the customers. Rapunzel and Jack took over as waiters while Hiccup got set up as the host. 

Astrid and Eret were some of the first to show. They were at the Cove almost every Saturday night for dinner after a week of work and bot fighting, and both were known to start _and_ finish drinking contests. 

A gaggle of college students bounded in, bright facepaint under their eyes and looped on their arms. The girls giggled as Hiccup seated them at one of the tables, and a few started blushing brightly as he smiled and set down the menus. The giggling got louder. He looked up at Merida. 

She rolled her eyes and went back to filling up Eret’s glass. 

The cycle continued for a few hours - seat, eat, drink, repeat - and the Cove Golems moved quickly and easily. 

They were closing in on their last hour when Rapunzel’s phone started to go off. 

“Yes?” She asked, answering quickly. 

“Blondie!” Flynn yelped over the phone. “Blondie I gotta tell you this,” 

“What?” She said, fixing the tray of dishes in her arms. “Did you scout someone else?” 

“No! We’re out fighting some of the normal places, and Rapunzel… there's people talking. There’s new fighters showing up to these places… and a lot of bot traders - they’re all over,” 

“Flynn,” Rapunzel laughed. “So?” 

“You guys need to get back out here, back out in the field,” Flynn said. “These guys are good, but… there's something  _ off _ about them,” 

“Off how?” Rapunzel said, freezing in place. He’d sounded different then. 

“I… I can’t explain it Blondie,” Flynn said. “You need to see it for yourself,” 

“O-okay,” Rapunzel said. The Cove was closed Monday through Wednesday, and she and Jack wouldn’t have Emma until the next weekend. If things worked out, maybe she could go out and get some more action? It  _ had  _ been a while. 

“Blondie? Rapunzel?  _ Rapunzel _ !” 

“Flynn, I’ll talk to you later, okay?” She said quickly, not even waiting for a reply before hanging up. 

“What was that about?” Jack asked. 

“How would you feel about some bot fighting?” Rapunzel asked. “Like back when we started,” 

Jack thought for a moment. 

“Sure,” He said. “What’s the worst that could happen?” 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Cove uniforms are a pair of black pants with a short sleeve green button down. They get to pick whatever shoes they want. They aren’t really sticklers for that sort of stuff. 
> 
> I recently got a question about Rapunzel and Flynn being siblings. They’re adopted siblings. When Rapunzel was abducted by Gothel, her parents came across Flynn during their search. They adopted him when he was fairly young (around 12-13). When Rapunzel ran away from Gothel and found her birth family, she discovered she also had an older brother. 
> 
> See you all next week! Questions and reviews fuel the author, so don’t hesitate!


	9. Botfighting In Backstreets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woah, notes at the beginning? What happened to Wiz? 
> 
> Well, when I looked at the legnth of this chapter - IT WAS LITERALLY SO SHORT. I would have cut out some of the next chapter, but I love this ends, so beware - I'M POSTING TWO CHAPTERS TODAY. 
> 
> Enjoy your rare, double chapter event!

Chapter Nine: Botfighting in Backstreets

Tuesday night rolled around, and Jack and Rapunzel found themselves outside Philip and Aurora’s bar -  _ The Spinning Wheel _ \- and waiting for Hiccup and Merida. 

All set for a night out bot fighting and bar bouncing, the couple were dressed differently than they usually would. Back in the Cove, they fought their friends, and nobody felt any need to dress up. In fact, the nicest thing they wore most of the time was their jackets. 

Rapunzel wore her hair straightened and over her right shoulder. Her makeup was a bit darker and more intense than normal, with smokey eyes and a purple lip. She wore matching sun earrings and a choker, with a black cagey crop top with dark purple embroidered flowers on it. She also wore dark purple shorts with black flowery lace tights and her normal tennis shoes. She was carrying her Cove Golem jacket - the only thing that swerved away from her ‘punk’ aesthetic. Rapunzel had also slung her bot fight bag over her shoulder. 

Jack was dressed similarly to his girlfriend with dark ripped jeans and his blue converse. He was wearing his Cove Golem jacket over a band tee and vest, and had his collar flipped up a little. Rapunzel had put a lot of work into everyone's jackets, and his was no different. The many white and blue snowflakes that intertwined between the lettering seemed to glitter under the streetlights. His bot fight bag rested on the ground by his feet and he played with a black beanie in his hands. 

“Aren’t you getting cold Punzie?” Jack asked, glancing at the blonde. She shook her head. 

“I’m good,” Rapunzel said, standing on her toes to look for the others. “Where are they?!” 

“Punzie, we live four blocks over. They live above the bar,” Jack reminded. “It’s a little bit of a drive,” 

Their conversation was interrupted by the roar of two motorcycles rounding the corner. One bike was a black cafe racer with grey edges and a green filter over the light. The other was a black european bobber with white fenders. They pulled up to one of the parking meters and dismounted, one of them waving wildly at the couple. 

“HI MERI!” Rapunzel yelled, bouncing and waving at their friends. 

Merida shucked off her helmet, letting her curly red hair bounce free. She wore some lace up pleather leggings and a matching vest over an off the shoulder top in her family tartan. Her makeup matched Rapunzel’s, and she wore several layers of necklaces and bracelets. Her bot fight bag was slung across her shoulders, and her Cove Golem jacket was tied around her waist. 

Hiccup filled up the parking meter, and joined the rest of his friends. He wore a dark grey button up and dark pants, with a black vest and his Cove Golem jacket. His had twin dragons looping across it, while Merida’s had tiny Will’o’wisps. 

“What’s the plan?” He asked, looking to Rapunzel, who was in charge that night. The blonde nodded and pulled out her phone. She tapped a nondescript app on her homescreen and a map of San Fransokyo popped up, along with several little colored ping marks. 

“We split up into teams, hit some fights, regroup, repeat,” The blonde said, pointing out two of the nearest back alley fights. “And we don’t want to get caught by the police, so we might have to ditch the jackets with Philip and Aurora,” 

“Sounds fair,” Merida said, shedding her coat and looking at the others. “So wha’ teams?” 

“Boys versus girls?” Jack smirked, throwing an arm over Hiccup’s shoulders. “See who makes the most?” 

“And gets the best information!” Rapunzel interrupted, leaning into the circle. “That's the point after all!” 

“Sounds good with me,” Merida said. “Got your helmet Punz?” 

“In the car,” The blonde replied. “Jack will give the jackets to Aurora,” 

“Meet back here at closing time,” Jack said. “I doubt they’ll want us banging on their door and waking them up,” 

The four nodded and split up. Jack and Hiccup went to drop off the jackets while Merida and Rapunzel grabbed the other helmets. Then, they set off to their respective fights, girls on one bike, and boys on the other. 

As the roar of the motorcycles died away, the door to  _ The Spinning Wheel  _ was flung open, and two angry men were thrown outside. 

“IF YOU CAN'T PLAY BY THE RULES, THEN YOU AREN’T WELCOME!” Aurora yelled, slamming the door shut. The men stood up and rubbed at their bruises, glowering back to where the blonde had been. They were tall and broad chested, both with spiky ginger hair and badly done undercuts. One had a scar down his chin, the other with an eyepatch over his left eye. One - the one with the eyepatch across his face - held a black duffle bag, where a whirring sound inside chattered incessantly. 

“Turn the bot off,” The other snarled. “We’ll fix it later,” 


	10. Mysterious Machines

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the SECOND HALF of a double chapter event.

Chapter Ten: Mysterious Machines

Jack and Hiccup followed the path to their designated fight, looping into a few back alleys. After a little while, Hiccup heard the sound of a crowd cheering and stopped the bike. 

“We’re here,” He said, climbing off and fixing his botfight bag. The leather cord with Toothless’s personality chip glinted in the streetlights, and Hiccup tucked it into his shirt to prevent anyone from recognizing it. 

“How long has it been since we’ve done this?” Jack asked, rolling his head around. Back when they hadn’t had the bar, Jack had been a complete bot fight junkie. He’d spent almost every night out fighting to relieve stress, and usually got caught by the cops. Rapunzel had told Hiccup to make sure her boyfriend stayed safe, and Hiccup had every intention of doing just that.

They slipped into the alleyway, where someone had strung up a few sets of lights to illuminate a scribbled chalk circle. A mass of people crowded around the circle, where the whirs and groans of bots echoed around the tiny space. 

Hiccup nudged Jack, who pulled his beanie further over his snowy hair. The last thing they needed was to be recognized right away. The two young men pushed further into the crowd, scoping out the multiple fighters and their robots. 

“NEXT FIGHT!” A ringleader yelled into the crowd. She appeared to be a twenty-something woman with spiky hair and punk clothing. She carried a simple flag, where the rings symbol - a basic skull with gears - had been scrawled. “The challenger… versus the REIGNING CHAMPION!” 

“Reining champion?” Jack asked slyly. Hiccup held his friend back, and subtly pointed at the yellow ties on both the ringleader and champion, as well as several fighters and enforcers scattered around the crowd. 

“Don’t start anything,” He muttered. “It's a gang ring,” 

* * *

“Hey ladies, here to see your boys fight?” A sleazy looking enforcer asked. Merida scowled a bit and shouldered past him. 

“Nah laddie, I’ll be tha’ one doing the fightin’ tonight,” 

“You gotta pay to play missy,” The guy said, suddenly growing very dark. Merida smirked and pulled out a small roll of bills. 

“This enough?” She asked dumbly, opening her eyes wide. The guy gulped and took the money, brushed aside a few people to give the redhead a clear shot to the ring. 

“Here you go,” He said, handing the money to the ringleader and quickly whispering. Merida smirked and pulled  _ Wisp  _ out her bag, setting up as the other fighter smirked in her direction. 

Rapunzel, on the other hand, slipped into the crowd and started to listen into a few conversations. Most commented on the sheer gall of Merida walking into the fight like she owned the place, others about her chances in the ring. But the most interesting ones… 

“Think he’d be interested in any of this crap?” A tall man asked his companion. “These bots are all basic models,” 

“You know what he said,” The other man growled. “We have to scan all of these slime holes. You never know when one of those engineer kids is gonna waltz in,” 

The first man groaned loudly, and Rapunzel committed those tidbits to memory. Basic models? Who was sending out scouts? Was it another mega bot ring? 

The fight before Merida’a had started, and the two scouts were suddenly very interested in the battle. Rapunzel realized with a start that they might have just delivered themselves into the hands of the enemy. 

“Oh no…” Rapunzel whispered, watching as the second man pulled out his phone to take pictures of the fighters robots. 

“Finally,” The first man laughed. “Something  _ worth _ watching!” 

* * *

Hiccup let Jack start off slow, taking on some of the easier competitors. Jack could have easily taken out the gang boss, but Hiccup knew that it would also lead to them being easily beaten up. 

They hadn’t learned much from that fight, so they left and made their way to another one. This time, there was another gang, the pay to play price was higher, and Hiccup learned that there had been a new rise in police raids. 

Several of the bot fighting gangs had started to rise again, getting more and more new members with the promise of… something. 

The Cove Golems were aware of several gangs already. Anyone involved in the bot fighting community was. There were two distinct types. Those that were just bot fighters, who ran in a pack and practiced under the same flag, and the actual crime gangs. Those were more dangerous, usually spread over a select territory with bot fighters and enforcers alike. You had to be careful when you fought in a crime ring. The rates were usually higher, but there was a higher chance of getting beat up and losing your bot. 

“Looks like this is a Yama ring,” Hiccup whispered to Jack, who nodded. Yama Rings were a crime ring, led by Mr. Yama, a notorious gang leader with a lethal bot. According to Flynn and Tadashi, Hiro had actually taken the gang bosses robot down, and almost lost Megabot because of it. Hiccup didn’t know if that tidbit should make him less or more nervous, but he stuck with caution. 

“I’d like to fight Mr. Yama,” Jack grinned, stepping out of the crowd. Hiccup decided that he should probably be scared. “What’s the starting bid?” 

“Thirty bucks punk,” The ringleader said, holding out her hand. Jack shrugged and pulled out the money. He settled into his spot across from Yama in the ring, and powered The Bunnymund up. 

Yama started down his competition, looking at the seemingly small bot. He seemed to make some quick calculations, and laughed a little. 

“Good luck… bunny-boy,” 

Jack smirked, and the fight started. Hiccup stepped back into the crowd, finding a good spot and staying there, letting the various conversations surround him. 

* * *

After the first alley, Rapunzel and Merida had been struggling. No where they went had any good information, or all they were interested in was flirting with the two women. On the bright side, they were probably winning the money making competition. 

“Who do yeh think this mysterious buyer is?” Merida asked as the two girls whipped down the dark streets towards their next fight. Rapunzel shrugged. 

“I don’t know, maybe some sort of bot making company?” The blonde tried. “Maybe it was just gang talk and I misunderstood?” 

“Punzie, yeh didnae misunderstand!” Merida said. “You said tha’ guy was taking pictures of bots? People only do tha’ if they’re up ta’ something!” 

“I guess you’re right,” Rapunzel muttered, watching as the two zipped past streetlights. “Oh wait! Here! Here! HERE!” 

“On it,” Merida said, making a sharp turn into an alley, then stopped the motorcycle. The girls dismounted and headed deeper into the alley, where a ring and crowd awaited them. They split up, sneaking off into two different halves of the crowd to watch the battles. 

Rapunzel watched the fight intently, measuring out the various attachments and designs. Both fighters had basic styles, but their bots were fairly decent. The blonde started to look around for scouts, but she wasn’t seeing anything out of place. 

Merida on the other hand, was experiencing deja-vu. 

She stared down at the girl who’d already been at the last two fights. She was younger than any professional bot-fighter ought to be, around fourteen or fifteen years old. She had dark hair pulled back into twin braids, and dark sullen eyes. She wore dark jeans and a baggy orange sweatshirt, and clutched a backpack over her shoulders. 

Merida remembered her from several of their previous fights. The girl was small and skinny, and was able to sneak right up to the ring, where she watched the fighters intently. A few fights would pass, and the girl would sneak off - usually after a spectacular win or show of skill - and disappear. But she seemed to be doing the same thing Merida and Rapunzel were - casing different fights. 

She could have easily had a bot in her bag with her, but it wasn’t reasonable for a novice fighter to have gone to so many rings without trying her luck at least once. 

Merida waited until the girl disappeared again, and grabbed Rapunzel’s arm. 

“Come on,” She whispered, nodding towards the spy. “We’ve got ah lead,” 

The girl pulled her hood up and turned back towards the street. 

* * *

Hiccup was getting a little antsy. He was glad he was there to back Jack, because his friend was getting a little cocky. The white haired man liked to play around, and was just skipping circles around Yama. The larger man’s bot thrashed and he made heavy sloppy attacks, which the Bunnymund escaped. 

The fight was dragging on, and Yama’s anger radiated off the ex-sumo wrestler in waves. 

Jack smirked and skipped his bot right over Little Yama, laughing a little as the rabbit bot landed lightly on his feet. Yama growled loudly, and Jack powered up the freezing ports to immobilize his opponent. 

Hiccup slipped out of the crowd and back towards his bike. He could already see the scenario where this situation went south. 

“Challenger wins!” The ringleader announced. She opened the winners tray, and Jack slipped the money into his jacket. He stood, scooped his robot back into his backpack, and bowed jokingly to the crowd. 

Yama growled, and made a motion to his enforcers. The men scattered around the crowd pushed towards Jack, who glanced around, surveying his options. 

“Thanks for the game gentlemen!” Jack laughed. 

“Get him! Take the bot!” Yama yelled, and the rest of the spectators scattered. Yama’s goons pushed against the crowd, and several people screamed as they tried to escape the fight. 

“Gotta go!” Jack yelped, jumping and running a little up the side of the building before launching himself off an old dumpster. He grabbed onto a fire escape and did a pullup, pulling himself onto the platform. “Bye!” 

Smirking again, Jack waved and jumped off the platform, landing in a classic parkour roll and away from the enforcers, who started running towards him. There wasn’t time for Jack to get any sort of head start, but the roar of a motorcycle caused an even wider smirk to cross the white haired mans face. 

“Need any help?” Hiccup asked, pulling up behind his friend. Jack laughed again and climbed behind the other man. Hiccup revved the engine and the two sped off, leaving a frustrated Yama and his goons behind. 

* * *

For someone only on foot, the mystery girl moved  _ fast _ . 

Merida and Rapunzel followed her slowly, making sure not to make too much noise and let the spy now that she was being tracked. This was the only lead they had, and the two girls weren’t about to lose it. 

The girl knew her way around the back alleys of San Fransokyo, that was for sure. With her hood up, she slipped past the late night drinker and in and out of alleyways. Merida realized that she was avoiding big name security camera areas, and doubled down on her determination to find her. 

The girl finally stopped in an alleyway near the docks. The lights from the boats shone behind her, and a few crummy street lights flickered above. It was awful lighting, but also gave Rapunzel and Merida the perfect cover. 

The spy shucked off her hood, glancing around like she expected someone to sneak out of the shadows. She held her backpack protectively and slumped against the building behind her. 

“Wot is she waitin’ for?” Merida whispered, just as a large black car pulled up alongside the girl. A tall man climbed out and walked towards her. He was bald with a mustache and goatee, and a thick build. 

The spy held out her hand, to which she was given a roll of cash. She unzipped her backpack and dug through it. She then handed a notebook over, along with several thumb drives in a plastic bag. The man seemed unimpressed, and gestured at her, as if asking for more. The girl smirked and reached back into her bag, pulling out two bot fighting robots. The man grinned and handed her more money, then turned back to his car. 

“That was a handoff,” Rapunzel whispered. Merida nodded. 

“She’s stealing an’ selling bots!” 

* * *

The boys were already waiting outside  _ The Spinning Wheel  _ when Merida and Rapunzel arrived. Jack smiled widely and jumped up to hug Rapunzel, while Hiccup smiled appreciatively at Merida. The redhead was still busy going over the new information, and didn’t notice the gesture. 

“Glad you two didn’t end up in jail,” Rapunzel commented when Jack told their side of events. “I do not want to deal with the police tonight,” 

“I got the jackets,” Hiccup interrupted, leaving the bar with the four coats in tow. “See you guys tomorrow then, but Meri and I should be going home,” 

“Hiccup, where’s your sense o’ adventure?” Merida prodded, slipping her jacket on to block the winds rolling in from the docks. “There's plenty o’ bars still open!” 

“Yes and the last thing we need is for you to get drunk tonight,” Hiccup griped. “Come on, its late, I want to sleep and I also need to reconnect the personality chip,” 

Merida rolled her eyes and replaced her helmet, then waved to Jack and Rapunzel before climbing onto her motorcycle and following Hiccup back down the dark streets. 

“Ready to go home?” Jack asked. Rapunzel nodded and yawned a bit. 

“Definitely,” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading these two chapters! Any guess who the two men from the last chapter are? Or Mystery Girl? The story’s starting to pick up, and things are going to get a little more… dangerous from now on. 

**Author's Note:**

> New story time! This story is already finished, and will be updated every friday until it’s done. This is my own take on the bot fighting au, but was definitely inspired by the art online.  
> (also my goal is to get this added to the botfighing au page on the big four wiki, so…) 
> 
> Enjoy!


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